Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-05-01

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social rank, Lieutenant dc Rochelle
having lineage that reached The HUI
puenot settlement OF the State.
The marriage was appointed for tho
Christmas-eve Of 1864, in the gloom
that then ovcrshadowed the beleaguered
town. TWAS sombre holiday season
for the people driven from their shat
tered homes by the steady rain OF shot
and shell, nearly exhausted of the COM
monest necessaries OF life. and shroud-
ed in mourning for lost members of
every household.
THE EVE or MARRIAGE.
The Pickens family mansion Was
within the line OF fire from the Federal
batteries, and months previously had
been abandoned. Miss Pickens had
been received into the residence OF her
relative, General Rhett, which was
supposed 10 be beyond the range Of
their guns, and had 40 far escaped be-
ing hit by any OF the monstrous pro-
itctiles that few into the city. On
Christmas eve the wedding party were
assembled in the parlor OF the Rhett
mansion, one Of the large and handsome
houses so common on all the river
frontage OF old Charleston. Divested OF
ITS costly and elaborate decorations that
badgone 10 swell this or that Confederate
fund, the great room looked barren,
chilly, end forbidding. Candles were
almost sn unattainable luxury then
the city gas-works had long been
wrecked by exploding shells-and some
homemade device OF illumination only
lit up the little space occupied by the
lover and bride and clergyman. Save
for the brilliant uniform OF the soldier
and the white robes of the priest of the
Episcopal Church there seemed no color
or warmth in tthhe apartment Finery APP
propriate to the wedding ceremonies OF
distinguished people was not to be found
in the Confederacy, and while the dozen
OF guests were men and women who
had known the opulent and luxurious
life of good society in the ante-6ellu0a
days OF Charleston they were now re-
duced to homespuns and coarse cot
tons With the harsh discordance of
the bot9bardment filing their ears, and
with the knowledge that the bride
groom must OF once quit his wife's side ,
f9r service with hi. command, a sense
Of apprehension and sorrow brooded
over the sssemblsge. The most serene |
and self-possessed OF all present. the
reports said, was Miss Pick
enc, whose stately beauty was height !
ened by contrast with the surroundings. !
WHEN THE SHELL BURST
The clergyman's voice broke the
silence Of the group wi..n the reading
of the marriage form, and he had just
reached the into. rogatories when the
horrible roar Of a she'll vastly louder
ioan those Tying over the distant sec
Mons the city drowned every other
'Or ID, 1t came from an advanced
osttery that General Foster had re-
Gently opened we'll up on the inner side
of Morris island and within four-mile
range of the Rhett residence. The 200
pounds OF iron loaded with incendiary
material described a trajectory that
ended upon the roof of the house,
from whence it crashed through the in
te1media;e floors and burst in the midst
of the wedding party.
When the sitting smoke had cleared ;
away and men could breathe free from
the tuftocating fumes Of the powder
the apartnent-its walls and ceiling
partly blown out, its furniture knocked
into chips, blood spattered everywhere,
fragments of human forms strewlng
the foOrs-was scene OF indeScrlbable
terror. Three of the wedding guests
had been instantly killed, and not
person in the room had escaped in
Jury of some sort. Lieutenant de Ro-
chelle and the clergyman were only
slightly hurt, but Miss Pickens was
PROSTATE and saturated with the blood
that streamed from where her shoulder
had been cruelty torn by q fragment of
the shell. 4 surgeon pronounced her
dead, but when she was laid upon a
couch she slightly revived and en-
deavored to speak, each heave of her
breast causing the blood to flow in an
increasing current.
De Rochelle approached her side and
placed his car close to the lips that
we're painfully struggling to utter in
telligible words. Fer eyes sought the
clergyman with look that begged him
to draw nigh. He did so, and de Ro-
chelle, catching as by inspiration her
meaning, asked her if she would have
the remainder of the ceremony per
formed before she died. Again she
made the effort to speak and failed, and
the surgeon warned them that her life
was ebbing fast but the consent which
she could not voice found expression IN
all infection of the head.
Then the clergyman, with his robe
stained from the wound he had re-
cciyed, stood over the couch Of the
dying woman, whose hand had sought
that OF her lover, and proceeded with
the reading OF the holy ritual in the
apartment from which the slain had not
yet been removed and where the blood
was still fresh and reeking. When he
put the question whether she would
have the man beside her for her
welded husband her attempt to
answer brought on the paroxysms
of mortal dissolution. Foam hecked
her lips and her face became ashen
gray, but with final and supreme ex-
ertion she murmured, 81 will. Christ
mas came in at midnight with the
laundering diapason of the r-silent
csnnonade, and the morning sun broke
upon the dead face of Margaret Pickens
de Rochelle. And this is the story told
by the marble in the Christ church
home of the silent majority and re-
membered by Charlestonians unforget-
full of the beauty and grace of the
daughter of South Carolina's first war
Governor.